Less than an hour to the opening tip of the Tourney. I feel giddy.

Coaching stuff.

The Dixon siblings got a national AP piece. This thing has been in just about every paper today.

“What can I tell you? It’s beyond belief,” said their proud father, Jim Dixon. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.”

Historical, too. The Dixons are believed to be the first brother and sister to coach in the Division-I tournament in the same year.

“It was never determined, ‘This is what you’re going to do, be the first brother and sister in the NCAA tournament,”’ Jim Dixon said. “You never thought about those implications. But since this is what we’ve got, we’ll take it.”
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As for Jamie and Maggie, they’re just enjoying the ride.

“The exposure the last couple weeks for Jamie’s team and my team really means a lot,” Maggie Dixon said. “Jamie and I are going to be doing this for a long time. Hopefully people will still think it’s a cool thing in 20, 30 years.”

That of course takes us to the coaching rumors.

Arizona State is still watching.

If there’s a way to rate the candidates, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon is still the No. 1 seed on ASU’s wish list, according to multiple sources among boosters and within the university. It’s not clear where ASU is, if at all, on Dixon’s list.

With Pitt preparing to open the tournament Friday against Kent State in Auburn Hills, Mich., he’s not commenting.

After reports linked him to the ASU job, there were further reports that Pitt will sweeten a contract that already is good for four more years at a $600,000 annual salary.

However, there also was talk that Pitt would redo his contract last fall. It never got done, hence speculation linking the former Northern Arizona University assistant to ASU and now Missouri.

Yes, Coach Dixon is seeing his name now coming up a bit more with the Missouri job.

With the NCAA Tournament getting into full swing tomorrow, Athletic Director Mike Alden is on the clock, and MU fans are waiting to see whom he will entrust with the task of rebuilding the program.

At least six potential candidates – Alabama-Birmingham’s Mike Anderson, West Virginia’s John Beilein, Memphis’ John Calipari, Marquette’s Tom Crean, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Texas A&M’s Billy Gillispie – will be trying to steer their teams through the Field of 65. When their runs end, they might be listening to overtures from Alden.

Alden said Monday he wants to reserve further comment about the process until he has found his coach.
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“Billy has given me every assurance that he is committed to Texas A&M,” Athletic Director Bill Byrne told the Star-Telegram. “And we are certainly committed to him.”

Pittsburgh might need to show similar commitment to keep Dixon, 40, from listening to offers from Missouri and Arizona State. Budget constraints have forced Dixon’s team to take commercial flights to most road games, and his current contract, which has four years remaining, only pays him about $600,000 per season.

Athletic Director Jeff Long seems prepared to give Dixon a raise after his third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and an appearance in the Big East championship game.

“I want to make it clear that we think the job Jamie is doing is outstanding, and we want him to be here a long time,” Long told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette two weeks ago. “It’s my job to keep Pitt the best opportunity for Jamie Dixon. And I think Pitt is the best opportunity for Jamie Dixon.”

The school was reportedly willing to pay Dixon’s predecessor, Ben Howland, more than $1 million per season when he left for UCLA three years ago. Dixon could command that much, and he has hired Boston-based lawyer Dennis Coleman to represent him as he seeks a new deal.

Coleman represents more that 35 college coaches, including West Virginia’s Beilein. Like Dixon, Beilein could be willing to listen to an offer from Alden. Five of the Mountaineers’Â’ top six scorers are seniors this season, meaning he could be rebuilding if he stays in Morgantown, W.Va.

Missouri fans and columnists really want Beilein, but Dixon is at least the second choice.

In order, I like the following short list of coaches who fit that profile: West Virginia’s John Beilein, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Alabama-Birminghan’s Mike Anderson.

Of the three, the home run hire is Beilein. The least likely to reject is Anderson. The most likely to use this process to get a whopping raise from his current employer is Dixon.
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Dixon’s ability is a little less certain because he inherited a strong program from Ben Howland and didn’t have to rebuild it. But he certainly hasn’t let anything slip in three years, going 77-21 with three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The 40-year-old Dixon has four years left on a contract that underpays him, although Pittsburgh Athletic Director Jeff Long has publicly stated that he will do his best to keep Dixon around. Arizona State is expected to make a push for Dixon, who grew up in California, but Missouri should be able to outbid ASU if Dixon is ready to move.

I think the general perception is that Dixon’s preference is to stay at Pitt, but with a significant pay raise. That puts the onus on AD Long to get the job done. The longer it gets drawn out, the greater the risk that the money from elsewhere grows as does the temptation.

Speaking of coaching hires, it seems Kent’s Jim Christian is now a potential candidate for the Duquesne job (seems like a lateral move to me, not to mention a real potential career killer).

Two names have become more prominent in Amodio’s search this week — Kent State coach Jim Christian and Murray State coach Mick Cronin.

Christian, 40, a former assistant at Pitt under Ralph Willard from 1996-99, has a four-year record of 89-39 at Kent State heading into the game against Pitt tomorrow in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Golden Flashes (25-8) earned the bid by winning the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Christian’s contract runs through the 2011-12 season, but those close to Christian have indicated he’s intrigued with the idea of coaching in the Atlantic 10 Conference which is a step up from the MAC with teams in major markets.

Here’s what collegeinsider.com has to say about Duquesne and Christian: “It won’t be easy changing perception. Amodio knows the best way to do that would be to hire someone like Jim Christian. The program needs a coach like Christian.”

Earlier, it had seemed the job was Ohio State Assistant John Groce’s if he wanted it. He must have come to his senses.

I find the timing of the article amusing given this story on the MAC seeking to do a better job keeping their coaches.

Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy said he has learned quite a bit over the last basketball season, traveling the country as a member of the NCAA Men’s Tournament Selection Committee.

He said one major point sticks out, particularly for mid-major programs that want to maintain a level of success.

“We need to invest in our coaches,” he said.
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While many people have pointed to the Missouri Valley Conference for supposedly finding a way to beat the RPI, Kennedy said the success of that conference landing four NCAA Tournament teams is simpler than that.

“They have invested in coaches, big-time,” he said.

During the recent MVC tournament in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch critiqued the success of the conference. Keeping coaches was considered critical.

Good luck with that plan.